Thursday, December 31, 2015

I have been super busy today running around preparing for tomorrow because we are having a gathering with some special guests on the first day of the new year, insya Allah.

Preps shall continue tomorrow morning because that's how it is every time I am back in my hometown. I would always end up making at least two trips to the grocery store, every day. Every day means every day. And that does not include trips to the mall and/or some shops. It's always been about buying stuffs, spring cleaning, driving around and having tomato rice and/or nasi kandar twice a day LOL.

2015 has been a colorful year for me. Alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. I am eager to wrap it up and embrace Jan-NEW-ary simply because everything will be fresh and new.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

There is no bed as comfy as mine. It makes me feel like a $6 million dollar woman cos the mattress cost about 0.1% of that. [The spy-readers are running for their calculators now. LOL.]

We all should pray hard and do tonnes of good deeds so that our bed in the grave would be super comfy too. And we should be more grateful so that Allah the Keeper of the Ultimate Treasures of the Heavens & Earth would be more generous towards us. Ameen.

YaHuuu... I managed to recite 1K+ salawat while driving from KL to Penang. That means I have got another 2K left to reach the magic number. Bi-iznillah.

Excuse me for the amateurish shot. It's for my friends living abroad who appreciate scenes of Penang. Will be sharing more pics soon.

Driving on Penang Bridge
heading towards 'island in the sun'
is always a thrill

Good night. I can't wait til tomorrow to check out on some precious books from Makkah.

Until then, I leave you with a poster borrowed from Exa Publishing FB.

WaSalamualaikum warahmatullah.

p/s

Feedback from another 2009-Readers' Club member who discovered this insignificant space in 2009 while she was living in abroad. She now lives in Penang. She is a pious, well educated and well traveled person. She and her husband, as retired professionals have now become a committed tholabul ilmi. Her kind words are like du'a and mean a lot me.

She sent this message just before I set out for my kampung.
"My dear, I read your superb blog at 2 a.m. and my tears poured out. I feel so connected to what you have written, as though that's my mind. Keep writing dear."

Masha Allah tabarakallah.
May Allah preserve our hearts and continue to grant us beneficial knowledge, ilham and tawfiq. And make us sincere and humble always.Ameen.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

How are you feeling now that we are in the final leg of our journey in 2015? I have been busy in the kitchen just now, no... no... not cooking, just cutting some fruits, made sandwiches and hot choc for me and mom. Alhamdulillah for the opportunity to do khidmah to my mother.

Prior to preparing dinner, I thought of scribbling something just because someone had left a kind comment for the posting on Shaykh Omar Basheer. Someone from the 2009-Readers' Club, those who have been reading since year 2009. Perhaps when my projects materialize and my businesses take off successfully in 2016, I should host a high tea at my Penang home for the entire clan of Shaykh Omar Basheer al-Khalidi insha Allah. Therefore, you all should pray for my success ok?

***

I saw this tweet by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf today. It's a quote of his during his talk at the RIS Convention in Toronto Canada held between 25th to 27th Dec 2015. RIS stands for Reviving the Islamic Spirit. Shaykh Hamza said:

'When you are oppressed, people attack and harm you. What is the response of our Prophet (salallah alaihi wasalam)? Return a wrong with a right.'

Hmm...you think you could do that? RAW WAR - return a wrong with a right? Not me, not easy for me, I'll be frank with you, no, no, no. I may have completed 7,000 salawat by now as part of the 10K-salawat challenge for this wonderful month of Rabiul Awal as recommended by the honorable Habib Umar bin Hafiz, but I am not sure I could do that - RAW WAR.

It's something to think about for the upcoming new year 2016. Can I be more forgiving next year? What if I got a ticket for hajj in 2016? I would want to behave well starting from January. I would want to be more forgiving, more giving, more hardworking, more everything of the good things.

What if we were to die say in Dec 2016? Surely we would want to chart the months, the days, the hours in 2016 very carefully and meaningfully, won't we? On top of having a RAW WAR approach, we must be mindful of "spiritual ants" [to borrow a term coined by Shaykh Ninowy at one of his talks I attended.] And we must be mindful of people whose life long quest is to bluff their way, people who stunt our growth.

Hmm...something to think about. We have got another two days left to pick a fight in 2015. LOL.

Anyway, I am hoping in 2016 Exa Publishing could live up to its name Exa, meaning 10 to the power of 18. That's a khadam at Exa Publishing posing in front of a custom made poster she designed.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Hmm...we all should be a perfection seeker. We all should strive to perfect our work even though no one is perfect, even though nothing can ever be perfect.

As a trend setter for tote bags in high school, since I was 13, I couldn't help but feel disappointed at the quality of the tote bag I designed [as pic above]. Blame it on communication problem between designer and manufacturer that it did not turn out as expected and that it was a rush job. Didn't have enough time to select the best supplier/producer. Must buy a heat press machine and do it ourselves next time insha Allah.

The lesson here is that we should keep acquiring new knowledge, put it to practice and be independent. And be dependable, so that when people seek us out for a certain skill, we could offer it easily and effectively.

Friday, December 25, 2015

How are you getting on with the 10,000-salawat challenge? If Habib Umar bin Hafiz had not recommended it, we would not have thought it's possible to do so many salawat. It's in fact, a reachable target.

It reminds me of the "potato juice" challenge which I undertook at a corporate training a couple of months back. When the trainer asked us, if it's possible to poke a potato with a straw, I was the first to shout NO! LOL. But after being taught some techniques, I did it. I poked a potato, a big, raw and hard potato. We are not talking boiled cherry potatoes o.k!

We rarely push ourselves. We just roam around safe zone and we are pretty laidback about many things.

***Allahumma salli ala Sayyidiina MuhammadHabibur Rahmanada dama yakun wama qad kanO Allah, bestow Your prayers upon our Master Muhammad, the beloved of the Most Compassionate, to the number of things that will be and that were.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

That's a beautiful and interesting photo captured by my sister who is having a wonderful time in Makkah. Alhamdulillah.

Everyone is in the state of worship including the workers who are busy renovating the sacred space known as Hijir Ismail.

Every action which we regard as work is considered worship as long as the niyyat is linked to Allah. As advised by Shaykh Kamaludin Ahmed in an article on wuqoof qalbi (vigilance of the heart):

"Before performing any action, we should make an intention in our heart. Link every action we do to Allah Almighty. So each and everything in our life whether it is a worldly thing or a religious thing, we should make an intention for it, and link that intention back to Allah. And this will be a test for us that anything we cannot make an intention, anything in our life that we cannot link to Allah - know that it has some level of sin; that thing has some level of forgetfulness; that thing is somehow keeping us away from Allah. Because through the best of our ability, if we cannot link it to Allah, that means that thing is clearly a ghayrullah; that thing is other than Allah, that thing will make us distant from Allah; that thing will distract us from Allah; So each and everything in our life we have to link to Allah. "

No doubt, it is a good thing to remember always. It is a good practice - vigilance of the heart which I understood as having a link or trying to keep a link to Allah active most of the time if not at all times, in most of our actions if not all of our actions.

And I thought that photo above is also symbolic because it shows a Line of Sight (LOS) to the Holy Kaabah which is a sacred symbol of our link or connection to Allah. I work in the telecommunications industry so the term LOS is common as we build telecommunication towers that must be carefully and accurately positioned so that all will be linked up onto the network. It is important to have a Line of Sight (LOS) with the other towers which are all connected on one big network, which in turn must have redundancy in case of emergency.

It is a good analogy for having an LOS with Allah. We should always check for our LOS with Allah lest we get lost and get left out from the Divine Providence. Our "tower" will end up being an island tower that is not linked up with the entire divine network and what use is there for an isolated tower? How sad we will be? That's like going to an island and finding a telecoms tower but that tower is not active since it's not connected to the entire telecommunication system, because it has no LOS, hence there is no service coverage! Sad!

***

Tomorrow we shall observe Mawlid ar-RasulinsyaAllah. How are you all doing in regard to the 10,000-salawat challenge - the salawat recommended by Habib Umar bin Hafiz, for us to recite 10,000 times in this blessed month of Rabiul Awal?

I have done 4,000+ already Alhamdulillah. I think Habib Umar bin Hafiz's words carry a great deal of weight. If it was just an ordinary bloke who asked me to do something that challenging, I might just brush it off. But when Habib Umar teaches a salawat, I stand at attention and I become very receptive somehow. It shows that Habib Umar is a person of great stature who carries legal authority of the Rasulullah salallah alaihi wasalam. I wonder how many salawat Habib Umar himself recite on a daily basis?!

Monday, December 21, 2015

He manifests His attributes and afál at all times for us to know and witness Him.

Alhamdulillah I praise the Lord for being kind unto my sister who is having a wonderful time in Makkah Al Mukarrramah now. She has just texted me asking me for new duá to request. I had already given her yesterday and today she asked for more and longer duá. LOL. It feels good to know that I could 'courier' my petitions on a daily basis, at least for a week.

Hopefully, tomorrow she will be able to meet a long-time friend of mine who has been a Meccan resident for over five years now. This friend of mine is very special. We all can talk about zuhud and sacrifices of the worldly dunya this and thatbut she is one of a select few people who epitomizes zuhud, in my opinion. She used to live in a huge luxurious mansion in KL, yet she gave up all that and opted for a very simple lifestyle in Makkah. She gave up her big car. She gave up her fancy shoes and clothes. She gave up plenty of stuffs that we are all still hunting and collecting.

Now how many of us are willing to do what she did? Let's put aside some time to think and reflect.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

That's Subuh Azan (call to prayer) in KL this beautiful Sunday morning. There are at least three mosques calling for prayer. Subhanallah!

Anyway, this is just a short greeting to yáll to remind you of the 10,000-Salawat challenge. I am progressing slowly. Alhamdulillah so far.

One thing I have come to realize since I undertook the 10K-Salawat challengeis that I prefer silence to unnecessary chatters and noise. We are flooded with tonnes of messages each day, aren't we? It can be overwhelming and deafening sometimes.

They say we have to learn silence just as we learn speech. Silence can do us much good. It's true.

Wish yáll a pleasant Sunday. Next week is a short week work-wise because it's going to be a longggg weekend YaHu! Can't wait for it to unfold. Have you finalized your holiday plans yet? Whatever it is, don't get stressed out and don't fight over it ok? LOL. The best plan is that which is destined by the Supreme Master Mind. Let's be open minded and leave room for divine surprises just because The Lord is the Best Planner.

Ah...Thursday is of course special. It's Mawlid Ar-Rasul. Gotta gear up on the salawat. May Allah grant us more tawfiq. Ameen.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

One E. Ismail has just left for umrah. The other E. Ismail wishes her all the very best for her first umrah, first experience of being a guest of Allah. My dearest elder sister Elyza absolutely deserves an invitation to the House of Allah.

Her limbs have labored much and only God knows the state of her blessed heart. Pray the blessings of the Haramain will bring about wonderful changes to my dear sister whose good deeds I reckon will weigh a lot heavier on the Mizan than mine.

I humbly ask you respectable readers, to make du'a for my sister so that Allah envelopes her in His Compassion throughout her journey, so that Allah would grant maqbul to all her petitions, so that the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam would honor her with his shafaat in this dunya and in the Hereafter. Ameen.

Friday, December 18, 2015

This is what I am up to. Preparing custom-made goody [canvas tote]bags for a group of tholabul ilmi (knowledge seekers) from abroad who will be joining a spiritual retreat (dawra) in Malaysia soon. Insya Allah.

I've commissioned a calligraphy lecturer to design that tholabul ilmi kufi. I've asked a good friend of mine to make Florentine biscuits and I've made a special sticker that says ''Made with Love by my bestie Hanim" : D

Of course the tote bags will be filled up with several more [secret] gifts that would hopefully make our visitors, the knowledge seekers, smile and stay happy throughout their journey in beautiful Malaysia.

Hopefully they would be kind enough to say a prayer for me : D

Florentine biscuits contain all kinds of nuts
plus two sunnah food items:habbatus sauda and pumpkin seeds.
Stay tune for
Sunah Food Campaign - Video Competition (SFCVC).
On top of getting cash prizes, all six winners will also be given a fig plant
and a special videography course at Saiful Nang Academy,Insya Allah.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Praise be to God for new acquaintances, contacts, partners, supporters, friends and positive people He keeps sending us, day in day out.

I remembered one corporate trainer by the name of Dr Reza, he said, if you are the smartest in your group, then your group is too small; if you are the richest in your group, then your group is too small; if you are the prettiest/most handsome in your group, then your group is too small.

I am feeling grateful that my group has drastically expanded on all three aspects. It's good to network and build good connections because the Quran says we are to cooperate on good deeds and piety. "Help one another in al-birr (righteousness) and at-taqwa (piety)...."

And that funny trainer Dr Reza also reminded his class to not look back and the fact that the rear mirror is small unlike the windshield, simply because we are to give more focus on what's in front of us, and not so much the things which are behind us.

2015 is gradually coming to an end. We may want to look back just a wee bit, for lessons learned in the past 12 months and then focus on the new year ahead of us. Insya Allah.

I have achieved the minimum 200-postings target for the year, but I feel obligated to write while I can for the sake of you, regular readers who start your day by checking on this space. Masha Allah! Thank you. May Allah make us all benefit from good words and good vibes. Ameen.

Today, I eagerly wait for a special delivery - tote bags with Lisan al-Din logo on it. It's for my own private collection. I was wondering if the regular loyal readers would be interested to purchase it. We shall see.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

I was among the bottom three students in class during the first few years in primary/elementary school. I remembered the teachers were not creative at all when commenting in my annual report cards. They had nothing better and nothing more to say than "Terus berusaha" which means keep striving. LOL.

During the final year when I slowly and painfully emerged among the top ten students in school, they still wrote something to that effect: Usaha dengan lebih tekunwhich means the same thing - keep working hard, keep striving. Perhaps they were not allowed to venture far from the school's motto Usaha Tangga Kejayaan. LOL. That essentially means, effort is the ladder to success.

Now at this mature age, of course I understood better the value of usaha. Understood perfectlywhy all the teachers had to hammer it in the head, year in year out.

Now at this mature age, I smiled from ear to ear when an animation expert autographed his book and wrote Terus berusaha. It made me smile because it felt really good as if he truly understood my aspiration and dreams and the sweat and tears that come with it. Terus berusaha sounds a lot more hopeful now than ever before.

Tangis dan tawa. Terus berusaha.
Tears and Laughter. Keep striving.

My nephew got his PT3 Exam results today (14th Dec). He did pretty well, but still I am disappointed the fact that he did not usaha much. I reckon he only put in about 60% of effort.

I think this is a universal problem, we all have a lot of untapped potential which would have manifested into a bigger success had we strive 100%. We do not really optimize our brains, nor do we maximize the power of our limbs to usaha.

Must work harder, you and I.

Congrats Kamil Arif & Imran Harris

Usaha tangga kejayaan

p/sWish when I was 15 when I experienced my first ''success", wish I had an aunt who has a blog so she could blog about my good results. LOL.

Monday, December 14, 2015

Below is a screenshot from Muwasala.org. Habib Umar bin Hafiz recommends we recite below salawat 10,000 times in this blessed month of Rabiúl Awal.

I have never done it before, it should be a good and beneficial challenge for us to take up. Certainly better than making 10,000 steps around the malls. Unless you are shopping for gifts for your family, friends, guests or the less fortunate. I'm not talking about Xmas presents here but in Islam we are also encouraged to give presents to our family members/friends anytime throughout the year, to foster better relationships among us.

Anyhow, I'd like to be brave and take up this 10,000-salawat challenge. The Habib says it's a recommendation but for weaklings like me it sure is a challenge. LOL.

Let's see if we can do 500 in one sitting per day, that would take 20 days. But knowing me, I might completely forget all about it on the 3rd day. LOL. So then doing 1000 a day might be a better idea as it would take only 10 days to complete it. InsyaAllah.

The salawat is indeed a good du'a as we are asking Allah to free us from sadness. We are all bound to feel sad at least on three occasions in a day, I reckon. LOL. Sadness is a big problem to mere mortals.

Wa azib huzna qalbi fid dunya wal akhirah

Remove sadness from my heart in this world and the hereafter

This is a very powerful sentence we all should learn by heart. But of course once we start reciting the complete salawat for the 100th time, we will have memorized it fully bi-iznillah.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Alhamdulillahi hamdan yuwafi ni'amahu wayukafi u mazidah. Praise be to Allah for His endless bounties and boundless compassion. We have come to Rabiul Awal. I am yet to memorize this new salawat taught on Muwasala though.

Allahumma salli wa salim ala Sayyidina MuhamadinAhabbil mahbu batwa ash rafil makhluqatwa af dholi ahlil aradhina was samawatO Allah bestow prayers and peaceupon our Master Muhammadthe most beloved of all things belovedthe most noble of the most noble of created beingsand the best of the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens***

Below is an excerpt of Habib Umar bin Hafiz's advice as related by Shaykh Abu Zaki [former Imam of Masjid Sultan Singapore] on 20th Nov 2015 at Masjid Al Falah. Shaykh Abu Zaki related three major advice given by Habib Umar during his tour to Indonesia and Singapore: about Allah waging war on us on account of riba; the correct method for dakwah and tawbah. A dear friend forwarded the lessons to me and below is my feeble attempt at translating Habib Umar's advice on dakwah.
As related by Shaykh Abu Zaki, Habib Umar said: There are people who use their Shaykh to attract popularity. They are two-faced. They use their Shaykh's name in order to be popular. If you intend to perform dakwah then employ the same approach as did the Prophet (pbuh). Put the Prophet in yourself. [Ask yourself] is this the method used by the Prophet? Would the Prophet endorse my way of doing dakwah? Does the Prophet hurt people? The Prophet wants everyone to enter the Heavens. He did not label anyone as misguided/blasphemous. [You] pretend to do dakwah on the words of the Prophet but you actually don't. Many people are eager to jump into dakwah based on the hadith: "Çonvey from me even if it is one verse'' yet they do not place the Prophet in themselves. The meaning of "from me" is from the Prophet, that is his akhlak and nothing from your nafs when you engage in dakwah. People compete in spreading the words of the Prophet but they do it in the wrong manner. You may convey thousands of the Prophet's words, but remember to put the Prophet in your heart and in your behavior.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Yes, change is good. I remembered singing to Sheryl Crow's song 'A Change Would Do You Good'.

Feeling so blessed and grateful that I took a couple of bold steps to change. I'm sure you have experienced having that kind of feeling too. It's the best thing I've done in three years. Thankful that the Lord has diverted a potentially bad qadar from me. YaHu!

Change for the better.
Change your circumstances by stepping out of negative situations.
Change to be braver.
Change to more positive way of thinking.
Change to better behaviors.
Just change.

Because a change would do you good!
And drink milk - it does a body good. Plus, it's sunnah food.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

This is the least I could do for a colleague I have known for 20 years who passed away today 8th of Dec 2015. As far as I'm concerned he had lived up to his good name Ahmad R bin Ahmad D.

You know there are all kinds of men in the corporate jungle. Many of them can be pretty rude towards women. But this colleague of mine is someone I remembered as a polite and well mannered person. He was 56.

You see, that's all we need to be for people to remember and cherish us - have good behaviors (akhlak).

My present colleagues were a lil surprised to see me shed tears at the office upon hearing the demise of Ahmad R. Although I rarely interacted with him lately, he remained sweet in my mind because we met circa 1994 and worked on a few projects together when the company was still small.

I never had a real opportunity to treat him lunch so my heart was breaking when I dropped some cash in the collection jar, not far from his lifeless body at the mosque today.

I humbly ask you to offer Al Fatihah for this friend of mine, one good Ahmad who had lived well carrying the name of Allah's beloved Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Numbers can be misleading ya know despite the fact that there's an explanation for it, for everything and anything. I have been blogging for six years. Out of the 700,000 page views only 20,000 people viewed my pic profile LOL. Al Falah TV is eight months old, but minus two months cos that's how long since the last video appeared, yet it has garnered 20,000 views. Hmm...how come? LOL.

Numbers can be deceiving. Is there an indicator to show how many hearts are moved or inspired by a single thing we put out to the universe? Pray Allah will let us be a tajalli of His goodness. I heard this from Shaykh Fahmi Zamzam who said: ''You gotta pray so that Allah makes you a tajalli (receptacle) of His goodness."

***

By the way, I discovered another great sunnah food product today. It would remind you of T2 tea. It's Tin-tea! Tea made of figs (tin). Yes! Tasted a tad too bitter than the regular black tea though. But it's packed with dozens of goodness. There are a handful of fig planters in Malaysia, so I learned.

***

This is looking pretty random. It's my attempt at sending out a signal to the universe that I so wish to be driven more often. It's so much fun being in the passenger seat, occasionally [on more occasions from now on, please].

An acquaintance of mine who had set out to walk for 40 days is still out there walking somewhere and here I am rambling nothing or in Malay they say mengada-ngada. This pious acquaintance suddenly popped up on WhatsApp today and addressed me as Sayyidah Ezatulhada. OMG. I take it as a BIG duá! May Allah forgive me. May Allah make me better than what people think of me. Ameen.[The haters/spy-followers of this blog are sticking out their ugly tongue now LOL]

OK folks, don't get too serious. It's Sunday. It's end of the year. Footloose, put on your Sunday shoes. And put on a fun cap. Opt for a snapback : )

Saturday, December 5, 2015

What's your plan for today? Have you taken khal (date vinegar) yet this morning? I have! Alhamdulillah.

Just a quick posting before I spring-clean my abode. Must hurry before my team arrive. We are going to do some voice recording today - narration for an animation snippet. Pray Allah will help us see it through. Should enjoy the process, keep doing and leave the outcome to Him.

I am just ashamed of myself knowing there are super-successful and super-wealthy people who work 100 times harder than I do. I was chatting with one of them the other day, and you know what this person said to me? He said: "I gotta earn a living". He said it in Malay which actually sounded even more humbling. He said: ''Nak cari makan!"

Masha Allah tabarakallah. People like these are truly inspiring. They are in a position to rest on their laurels yet they keep pushing themselves. They have plenty of people to do it for them - their big strong team - yet they work as if no one is going to do it for them. They are focused on one direction and one direction only, which is work.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Praise be to Allah for giving us thoughtful friends who swing by our place just so that we get to taste some yummy cookies; friends who alert us on new salawat we should learn and all the sweet-natured friends in our lives. May Allah grant His great bounties upon them especially those who help us in our religion.

I saw a tweet by Muwasalaquoting Imam Al Hadad: 'Flee from anyone who harms your religion as you would flee from a fierce predator.' Therefore, on the contrary, we should embrace people who help us in our religion.

So here's a new salawat published on Muwasala FB which I shall put on record here so that it would be easier for me/us to memorize. Wallahi, I have not learned that many salawat elsewhere than those shared through Muwasala. May Allah bless the team at Muwasala.org for their commitment and efforts in broadcasting the knowledge of their shuyukh in Hadramawt.

O Allah bestow prayers and peace
upon our Master Muhammad,
the most beloved of all things beloved,
the most noble of the most noble of created beings,
and the best of the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

I am loving the posters created by my team mate at Exa Publishing. She is getting better at it. Alhamdulillah. It's always good to see how people or we ourselves grow from strength to strength, push ourselves forward and increase our knowledge and skills from time to time. I think that's why we are taught to make duá: "O Lord increase me in knowledge." We should strive hard and learn as much as possible. We ought to soar to greater heights as far as knowledge is concerned, like getting a higher score in the school monthly test, a higher CGPA each semester, and learn more salawat/hadith/Quranic verses/du'a for example. There's no doubt we must aim higher as far as education is concerned. In Malay we say belajar setinggi yang boleh.
There still exists in the Malay society a culture (for lack of a better word) of people trying to be humble and call themselves orang kampung (village people). Or sometimes we use the term orang kampung as a derogatory terminology referring to people who live in remote/rural areas who are presumably backward in terms of education and material possessions. I think we have to grow from that narrow mindset because it is not necessarily true. Moreover, I learned at a corporate training, a couple of months back that: "It is not humility to discount one's own ability."

I come from a small village (kampung) in Penang. I stay there occasionally. My family is there. I have a small bungalow house and a small plot of land there. I consider myself orang kampung of course because it's a fact. I consider myself as orang kampung who have made some good progress compared to who I was 30 years ago. The majority of kampung folks there have all advanced considerably. Alhamdulillah.

As a matter of fact, my kampung is one of the last few kampungs left on Penang island. And mind you there are many people in my kampung who are highly educated. Some of my neighbors are PhD holders, professors, medical doctors, lawyers, magistrate, wealthy businessmen/women, we've got a couple of millionaires in the kampung and the Penang mufti lives in my kampung too. What I am trying to say here is that there's nothing wrong with being orang kampung who belajar tinggi-tinggi who attains the highest education/success possible, and still be humble.

Having said that, I also enjoy being a city girl who wakes up to a beautiful view of the KL city landscape. We have to be broad minded folks, accept His bounties and be grateful no matter where we are, in the kampung (village), in the sub-urban or in the city. It is all His manifestations. It is all His afál (actions). Everything belongs to Him. And the quest to belajar tinggi-tinggi, to continue learning as much as possible, is a lifelong quest.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Ah...the much awaited month of the year has arrived. December spells peace and joy to many of us as we wind down and reflect on the bygone months.

This is the time to take stock of what we have done this year and regroup any scattered pieces and fix any misfits.

This may spill over to January, which is okay because introspection and rectification of oneself is an ongoing process and has no deadlines. It's a solo race after all. So run or walk as you may. There is a path for you and for me. Your path is yours alone. Mine is mine alone.

This world is big enough for everybody after all, else the Lord will show us the exit, at the appointed time. So there is no need to whine.

This is, as usual, just my two cents to mark the coming of December.

This is posting #192. Eight postings to go before I wrap up 2015. YaHu!

Folks, keep your hopes high and keep smiling : )

-E-

p/s

On a lighter note, since December is synonymous with sale and in keeping with the spirit of buying and selling, I might auction my Tiffany diamond ring LOL. Bought it at RM 17,000 so that's the starting price, folks! Because a witty blogger named Miss E has worn it, it could fetch RM 71,000 you know! LOL.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Of course you know what that means. IMYT means I miss you too. Heh...heh. I missed you and thought of you, my dear visitors, over the weekend that has just passed. Your friend Eza was too busy to write as she was travelling, again. This time she went to Ipoh (2 hours drive north of KL). Her schedules got crazier that she had to miss a gathering at her own house in Penang - a gathering with the wonderful and much loved tahfiz boys from Cambodia. So sweet that they noticed my absence - "where is that sister who loves flowers?" They remembered the house was filled with flowers during the last gathering we had in September. So sweeeet!

Alhamdulillahil hamdan yuwafi niámahu wa yukafi u mazidah

***

The weekends seem to fly in and fly out (FIFO) just like that. During the weekend, I noticed something interesting and worth mentioning methinks. That people have to be told exactly what to do or what you expect them to do. We cannot take things for granted or assume that people know what they should do.

Of course we all know that we are supposed to take the hotel room access card with us every time we leave the room. I didn't realize there are many people who don't do that, until I heard it from a course trainer. He must be right, otherwise the hotel where I was staying in Ipoh would not have put up specific instructions as can be seen in below picture.

This room isn't afraid of the dark.
Carry the card when you leave.
LOL

If they knew there are people like me who would leave the TV on all night long every time I sleep alone in the hotel, they might put a notice on the pillow: "Don't be afraid. You are not alone. The TV is not a real sleeping partner. There are hundreds of people sleeping in this hotel tonight." LOL

Anyways...oh I wanted to write some lessons for event organizers or stage managers to be specific. I wanted to write about this several weeks back but it was shelved until I received an invite to be a speaker at a forum. Ahah! They like me after all. It's got nothing to do with the religion/sufism/blogging. It's about my 9 to 5 job. It's strange because I thought I did quite bad at the forum organized by the same agency last month. I did so very bad, believe me folks.

If you are an event organizer, listen up. How could I speak when I had to sit and use one hand to hold a mic, look at a small monitor on my left, hold the slide remote on another hand and point it to my right side because the projector was on the right side. And hey, I needed to use my Surface (tablet) because my speaker notes were in there but the table in front of me was too small and too far from my seat so I could not use it. And I have got only two hands!

Thus, I had to request to use the rostrum on the floor (not the one on the stage because there was no stand mic on that rostrum). So I spoke from the emcee's rostrum on the floor and the mic kept slipping down but nobody cared to help me fix it. And I had to point the slide remote to my right, look at the audience in front of me and occasionally looked at the other panelist on the stage on my left and I had to also look at the big screen behind me, above my head, so that my speech would be in sync with my notes and at the same time manage my notes on my Surface. But the screen was too close and too big and glaring so I could not see well. OMG! All that, spells BAD presentation! Very bad!

But somehow (it must be my sweet sounding voice...ehem ehem) the organizer asked me to present again the next day to represent a sub-working group. OMG. You have no idea how [quietly] excited I was even though I tried to decline the offer the first time, pretending not to want it and to give others a chance at speaking. LOL. Allah is great, He heard my prayers! I was profusely praying for a second chance at being a speaker cos I desperately wanted to prove that I could do better and that it was not my fault that my presentation on the first day was utterly terrible. Allah is ever so kind! He listened and He answered my prayers! Subhanallah!

I did better at the second chance of course, Alhamdulillah because I had spoken from the rostrum on stage and the mic behaved well and when I openly complained that I could not see the small monitor on the left end of the stage, the organizer passed me a hardcopy to refer to and when I realized the hardcopy was not the same as what was flashed on the monitor, I pointed that out openly too so the organizer quickly handed me the correct version. The lesson there is: must be brave to speak up and don't suffer in silence. LOL.

And guess what? Last Friday, I was approached for another speaking engagement. YaHuuuu! Allah is Kareem! Pray, someday I will be able to charge RM30,000 for a 30 minute talk. LOL. The moral of the story here is that no matter how bad you [think you] do, never give up, push yourself and do it again and again! When you are thrown into an assignment or a task which you are not comfortable with, do remember this Japanese proverb below. You just have to get in there, jump in where your fears are and face it because you cannot possibly experience fear, challenge and push yourself in your comfort zone or in a place where you already feel safe. It doesn't work that way.

Japanese proverb

It amazes me that our scholars, they did not attend any public speaking or presentation course yet they are all so good and natural at public speaking. They are really gifted individuals, aren't they?

May Allah increase us in knowledge and understanding. May Allah let us be a receptacle of His wisdom and intelligence. Ameen.

-E-30 Nov 2015

p/sBTW I remembered the toilets at Shanghai Airport (or was it Kunming) they had labels for soap dispensers on each of the sink. But everywhere else in the world, people are expected to know/guess if it was a soap dispenser. And I remembered the Shanghai Airport had a large signage for musolla (prayer room). Impressive.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Alhamdulillah. I heard one muáleem quoting a saying by a renowned scholar that the time we live in is special because there are plenty of majlis taálim and these majalis literally come to us.

Indeed, he is right. It wasn't like this 10 years ago. There are so many majlis taálim being organized nowadays and they are easily accessible through the internet and all kinds of social media platform. For this, we all ought to be thankful and grateful so that Allah will grant us more and keep us steadfast on the sacred path.

***

The holiday season is fast approaching. Let's plan for it wisely and quickly. Check out on these two great events coming your way in the last week of December - highly recommended events before we end the year.

1. Sacred Path Retreat Malaysia by the Cordoba Academy

Date: 25 Dec 2015 (Friday) to 2 Jan 2016 (Saturday)

It is a 9-day retreat where participants get to learn from four distinguish muáleem:

Shaykh Mohammed Daniel (UK)

Shaykh al-Sharif Hasan al-Kettani (Morocco)

Ustaza Um Ibrahim al-Dimshiqiyah (Syria)

Shaykh Hasan Mohammed al-Sanani (Yemen)

This is the second retreat organized in Malaysia by the Cordoba Academy, led by its founder and principal, Shaykh Mohammed Daniel. The Cordoba Academy has taught over 6,000 students worldwide. In addition to studying various kitab from the above mentioned scholars, participants will also get to visit selected local scholars and mosques in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Perak and Kedah, including the beautiful island of Langkawi. Insya Allah.

The fee for foreigners is US$1249/RM3999 and the fee for Malaysians (excluding transport and accommodation) is RM999. If you are keen to attend and need to have more details on the program, please click on the following links:

This is the 6th annual Sacred Path of Love (SPOL) event organized by the Sout Ilaahi Group headed by Brother Khalid Ajmain.

It has become THE event to go in Singapore during the year end holiday break, not just for Singaporeans but many SPOL followers from the region.

The SPOL is known for exciting and catchy topic every time. This year it will be about 'The Beauty of Imperfection'. Three scholars, namely Shaykh Abdul Aziz Fredericks, Dr Omar and Ustaz Amin will shed light on five sub-topics as per details in below poster. More info on SPOL 2015 is available at:

May Allah guide us to good gatherings such as these two so that we could learn from the pious and learned and be in a good company. My brother sent me a snippet of a verse from Surah Al-Kahfi this morningwhich is a relevant advice to us all about people whom we should not overlook and people whom we should not obey.

We certainly should not overlook these good people, people who organize beneficial events and esteemed people who devote their lives to learning and sharing useful knowledge to guide us to the straight path. Clearly, they are people who call their Lord in the morning and evening, seeking His pleasure. We should not overlook them in favor of seeking the splendor of the worldly life. And we should not obey those who are heedless, who follow their desires.

It's year end, it's the holiday season, so instead of going for a heedless vacation, feeding our senses with heedless entertainment and hanging out with heedless people, it would be better to opt for the two events mentioned above. Insha Allah.

"Keep yourself content with those who call their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure, and let not your eyes overlook them, seeking the splendor of the worldly life. And do not obey the one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance, and who has followed his desire and whose behavior has exceeded the limits."